anyone have a new VW rabbit?
 

gotta dump my jeep ASAP. I like VW's but have had a 1994 jetta and 2000 golf and both were very problematic.

The rabbit is in the budget ive set for myself. Any horror stories? I have searched the web and find only enthusiastic owners. My brother just bought a 2008 GTI and man that is one sick car. im very impressed with the new VW quality and drive characteristics

I can't comment on the newer cars, but my daughter's 2000 Beetle just took a crap.

my 2000 was .. well, in addition to the cost of the vehicle, cost me roughly $20,000 to maintain over the course of 3 years. which is why im hesitant to buy another VW

2008 and newer anyone?

Don't all VW's (now) have a 100k warranty?

not sure. ill find out tomorrow. my 2000 had a 20K mile which i used up the first 5 months

i know they are now much improved re: coverage and miles

Base car is not a best in class vehicle. A 7 out of 10. The GTI and R32 are very sweet cars. I would recommend either, not economy cars though.

Why risk it when there are better alternatives?

I have an R32 that I bought new. No issues in 4+ years. About like an Audi for me.

Sorry, Jim, Tim, et al. :D

JR

in the price range of the rabbit, i dont like the alternatives as far as style goes with the exception of the mini and even that, i dont like the interior at all and the nearest dealer is 80 miles from me. If we were importing the new Fiat's ide have a few more options that i like

i know the GTI and R32 are sweet. Out of my budget for my daily driver unfortunately

VW Quality has not made an improvement since your 2000 model. Still the bottom of all the quality and reliability surveys. I love VWs (owned '84 GTI, '81 Scirocco S, and a '90 Corrado) but the reliability just isn't there anymore. Stay very far away.

How about a Mazda 3 or Subaru Impreza?

I own a 2008 GTi 6spd 4 door. I easily get 30 mpg Hwy and have gotten 34 mpg on longer trips. It has great utility. The interior is outstanding. And, the 2.0T FSi motor is VERY peppy and responsive if one is feeling racey.

I have owned oodles of Volkswagens and driven several past 100,000 miles with NO problems (that is, until my son's 03 Jetta 1.8t [with a GIAC chip] had it's transmission take a poop). Thank God it was still in warranty!

Honestly, I have not had any problems with VW (Knocking on wood and crossing fingers, toes, and eyes). Now, if you want to talk about problems lets start with Ford!!!

Mike

+ a bunch. Go look at a Mazda 3. If you can stomach a lightly used car then a '03-'04 BMW 3 series. All are light years ahead of VW in reliability. This coming from an Audi owner...;)

I've been down the VW road many times. Nothing but success with the air cooled variety and nothing but heartache with the water pumpers. So much pain I'll never give them another shot.

ive had the same pain with VW which is why im asking this question. i would not ever consider VW again even if it was free, if i had not experienced the new ones.

my own observation from looking at many and driving a few 2008 models is that they are a ton better than they were. they appear to be much better made and the absolutely drive better....as i read the forums, i dont see any nightmarish scenarios or hear any horror stories about anything in particular with the new GTI or Rabbit

my 2000 golf had the transmission replaced the first week i bought it, with zero miles...and it went down hill from there. right from the beginning, there was a white cream under the oil cap which all the cars from that year and a few after, had. explained by dealer as normal... and my list could go on and on about problems which were common among many owners... to the car's credit though, i put 160K miles on it in 3 years


what im wondering now is, does anyone own a rabbit or know someone that regrets buying it

I was thinking of a used, 2004 R32. Much better car, in my opinion, than the new ones. If reliability scares you, get a warranty.

JR

I just bought a used 2004 Jetta Wagon 1.8t. 5spd, 31.5kMi.

33.3 MPG highway with A/C on @ 70MPH and Screaming out of Toll booths. I think by 04 they got all the bugs worked out....

Only down side is the $$ oil requred for the 5.01.1 or 5.02 VW spec., Eh, oil isn't that expensive.

Mazda3!

0% deal expires 09/02/08...this is the last weekend of the month...dealers are moving 08 mazda 3 hatches around or even below invoice.

Guess what I'm trying to do this weekend....

I'e had no problems with my water-cooled VW's

95 Jetta owned 26,000 through 90,000 miles - wrecked, but had no problems except or the timing belt snap, non-interference head, no bent valves:)

04 Jetta TDI 60,000 miles , no problems

05 Jetta GLI 30,000 miles no problems

My co-worker picked up the new 06 Jetta last year, loves the car, no problems and the new 2.5 motor is more reliable.

Next car for me wil probably be a GTI after I run the GLI into the ground.

I have that same drivetrain in my A4 2.0T six speed and I'm also hitting 34-36, it is a fun engine tranny combo for sure. Oh and no issues either, will be three years here shortly. But then again I've never had an issue on my 03' allroad either.

It is good to hear from others that have had multiple VW's and enjoyed them without any problems. FWIW, I owned a 2001 Audi A4 1.8t Quattro and had no problems with that either over 4 years and 50,000 miles.

Mike

Why not a Mazda 3? The one I drove just had eibachs and a catback on it with a good alignment, and MAN it was a tight little car. Great interior too.

06 GTI No problems, 07 Rabbit no problems & 08 EOS only 5000mi. but no problems.
We also had several other VW's with no major problems.I quess we have been fortunate with our reliability of VW products but we do old school oil changes at approx. 3000 miles. We also service them at factory recommended service intervals. I think the VW rabbit is a good value for the dollar.

My friend has an 07 GTI, which I have driven extensively. The engine definitely feels more powerful than it is, however I hate the DSG. In normal mode the throttle time response is pretty horrible. In sport, the engine is insane - it remains in low gears at high rpm even with very minor throttle applications, and performs jerky downshifts when slowing to a stop. Throttle response feels very on/off. I find that there is no happy medium.

I also don't like the driving position with the flat seat and distant steering wheel. Doesn't have those great BMW ergos.

Regardless, the car has been reliable and has 30k on it already. The only issue he's had yet was some creek behind the dash.

I also think the VW's have improved in recent years... that being said, I've had many of them and had no real problems.

Currently:

2005.5 Passat TDI wagon, 78K miles, NO problems....literally none. Still drives like a new car. 40MPG on the highway.

2001 Golf TDI, 54K miles, mass flow issue but resolved on warranty, no issues otherwise. 45MPG on the highway.

1990 Jetta GLI 16V, 108K miles, one vacuum issue, solved w/ a $45 part. Have done usual wear items. My son will be getting this car, he's stoked!

1956 VW beetle, Dad bought new, over 300k miles. I did break the original 36hp when I went skiing with it when I was in high school, now has a screaming 40hp in it.

Family has owned 20+ other VW's over the years.

I think the pricing of the new Rabbit is great, I drove one and it's a lot of fun. Waiting (not holding my breath) for a Tiguan Diesel, or the Touareg TDI 6 cyl.

E

1989 Jetta. a few minor issues, typical of a car with high mileage.

1999 Passat wagon. no problems.

20003 Golf TDI. no problems

2004 New Beetle. no problems, but interior quality is inferior to my golf.

with vw selling 100k's of cars, some are going to have problems. and some people are not going to be happy. as is with most car mfg's.

bought a rabbit tonight. amazing how well it drives compared to my 2000 golf. cant speak to long term quality but first impression was very very strong...its quite fast too.

thanks for the input

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to "Christine".

"Christine" is a 1997 VW Jetta GLX. I bought this car in November of '06 when I changed jobs, and realized I needed a car for airport duty far away from home. My dad had a '95 Jetta that he put about 200,000 miles on, and I think the only things he changed were bulbs and one water pump. That car was a ROCK. Well, I went looking for a car when I found out about the job, and I decided that since this was an old car, I would spend the extra coin for the GLX version, which is powered by the VR6 engine. This motor is probably one of the top 5 engines in the world in my estimation; I owned a '92 Corrado SLC with this motor for 5 years, and It never failed to enthuse me. Smooth, powerful, economical, incredible sound! I wanted this for my beater car. I entertained thoughts of turning my airport car into an autocross racer, with nasty suspension and a roll bar. Nobody else but me would ride in it anyway right?

Yeah-

Well, I bought Christine and drove it around Fort Lauderdale for a month. Not a single pop or bang from anything. I drove it to Ashville, North Carolina, and then to Memphis. I parked it overnight; it got down to 17 degrees.

I started it the next day [my first day at my new job] and got about 1/2 mile from the house when the oil pressure warning light and siren came on! I pulled over, and sure enough there was a huge PUDDLE of oil in front of the engine! The seal on the oil cooler had blown in the low temperature. I had a roomate back at the place I was staying; I chanced it and drove it back without oil pressure the half mile to the house. It survived; I got to work on time.

Shew! You would say, and wipe your head. It ain't over-

$300 later, after a tow to the VW dealer and a repair, I was back in business. Until the following week.

Tuesday morning: I'm stuck in traffic on I-40 in Memphis, and it is 45 degrees F/ 8C outside. I'm idling along at 20 mph...talking on my cellphone, when suddenly "pssshhhhWWWHEEEEEaaaaahhhhhh" and steam starts pouring out of the vents! The heater core disintegrated completely, and I lost all the coolant. Into the dashboard, in particular around the fuse box...

Well, I pulled off the highway, and called a tow truck. And the company. And the VW dealer in Memphis. OUCH! They wanted $1100 to replace that heater core! The whole dash has to come off. I couldn't do it myself, since I didn't have tools or more especially TIME since I was in training with a NEW company...so I told the dealer to bypass the core. I spent the rest of the winter driving with thick gloves! Deep south? hell! It gets DAMN cold in Memphis!

Well, two weeks later it overheated on the highway. I had to pull over; I was stuck in traffic and the fan wasn't running. It had finally failed, apparently! I was towed to the dealer for the third time in one month, and they had to replace both fans. Guess what? This was another $1100 repair! It seems like everything is $1100 on Volkswagens. I got irritated at this point and did a web search, since it occured to me that this latest repair probably had something to do with the heater core explosion, which filled the dash and fuse box with coolant/water mixture...and guess what I found? VW recalled ALL '94 through '96 Jetta's, Golfs, and Cabrio's for a weak heater core. And through my research, I was able to prove that the '97 cars, which mine was one of...had the exact same part.

But VW refused to replace my heater core under recall notice due to year!

I finally paid a local shop $600 to fix the problem. My heat works now...weakly, and I have no stereo. I can't figure out why the radio won't work.

Then...last January, I drove the car around Memphis one night and I found it occasionally cutting out on cylinders. I went online and asked, and the diagnosis was a failed coil pack. I replaced this in the employee parking lot, my fingers numb from the 40 F temperatures and the allen wrenches I was using. Prior to this, I had to drive the car with two cylinders not fireing for about 25 miles; I was concerned about a catalytic converter fire. The CAT was glowing when I got the employee lot, but once again, the car survived a bout of abuse.

You'll never break a Volkswagen; they're bullet-proof. But don't worry- in a few miles it will quit on it's own!

Then there was the sudden alarm problem. In May, I went to the car after not starting it for about 30 days and when I openned the door, immediately the alarm went off. I was able to shut it off with the passenger door, but for about a month I went through this wild gyration where I opened the pax door, walked around and openned the driver door, climbed in, closed the door, unlocked the car by inserting my key through the openned window and unlocking the alarm system while I sat in the car. THEN I could actually drive down the road~!

Just-out-of-the-blue.....ANYWAY.

Well, online I found a website and a thread where they talk about disabling the alarm. I followed the procedure and now I have a car that doesn't f+++ with me anymore.

-Two weeks ago the intermittent wiper stopped working, and now the cruise control won't work, and the ABS light came on the other day.


You know- I've written a slogan about Christine: "It's not just a car...it's an ADVENTURE!"

My advice: Avoid Volkswagen ownership. If you want one....lease it and take a new one 3 years later. These cars are ENORMOUS fun! But you don't want to live with one long term...

N!

'77 VW Rabbit, '85 Scirocco turbo, '92 Corrado, '80 Jetta 2 door automatic, '97 Jetta GLX VR6 automatic.
'

The first two paragraphs are at complete odds with the 3rd paragraph....

just my .02

e

You know, Normy, that sounds more like how not to buy a used car. Just how thoroughly did you check out this little gem before forking over the cash?

I don't think all bad used cars are VWs. According to Tim H. some of them are Audis.

Signing off,
JR